Soviets Would Bend on NATO for Unity’s Sake

Soviet resistance to a united Germany’s membership in the Western Alliance appears to have eased perceptibly, but major differences remain between Moscow and the Western allies on the issue, political analysts said Sunday.

In an interview with the West German news agency DPA, Bonn Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher said the Soviets had suggested decoupling the thorny question of alliance membership from the overall process of unification, so that the two Germanys could complete the internal aspects of unity.

A West German Foreign Ministry official in Bonn said Moscow was apparently willing to put off any final resolution of the issue for a considerable period if necessary.

The suggestion was made by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze at a meeting Saturday in Bonn of the two Germanys and the four World War II victors--Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union.

All five of the other participants in the meeting advocate membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for a united Germany, a move Moscow contends would create an imbalance of power in Europe and endanger Soviet security.

The development came at the first session of the so-called two-plus-four talks, which deal with dissolving the residual Allied rights in the country they conquered 45 years ago Tuesday and ensuring that security interests of neighboring European states are not diminished by reunification.

In the talks, Shevardnadze also indicated a greater degree of Soviet flexibility on the alliance issue, dropping the words oppose and reject in connection with a united Germany in NATO, declaring instead only that Moscow would react negatively to such a proposal.

However, the Soviet news agency Tass said that Shevardnadze told the foreign ministers that while the timing of internal and external questions on unity could be separated, all unity-related issues--including the alliance question--have to be resolved before Moscow would sign a final settlement formally relinquishing Allied rights in Germany.